Usopp's Greatest Lie
by Trake
Summary: Usopp's sniping talent is matched only by his ability to lie. His thousands of soldiers? A lie. His captaincy? A lie. His cowardice and devotion to the Straw Hats? Usopp's Greatest Lie.


**Summary: Usopp's sniping talent is matched only by his ability to lie. His thousands of soldiers? A lie. His captaincy? A lie. His cowardice and devotion to the Straw Hats? Usopp's Greatest Lie.**

* * *

The wind howled off the coast of Syrup Village, sand kicking up against the cliffs by the beach. The sand itself didn't bother Usopp, goggles protecting his eyes, but the wind blew across the pages of his book and he couldn't keep them still long enough to read them.

"I suppose that's enough reading for the day, then. Thanks for nothing, ocean breeze."

Usopp stood up and stretched, _World Government Post-Void Century_ closed in his hand. He walked over to the cliff face, moved a large rock slightly and tucked the book behind it. Covering the book again, he began his walk back toward the village he lived in.

' _This really is a beautiful island,_ ' Usopp thought to himself, ' _It's just time to move on._ '

Passing through the forest on his way back, he remembered his promise to meet up with the Usopp Pirates, the three children that followed him around and believed his every word. Looking up at the sun, he estimated the time and knew he was already quite late.

' _What can I come up with this time? Maybe I battled a giant island. The physical manifestation of an island. That's a good one. Eventually those kids will have to stop believing me._ '

Usopp continued to wander past the trees for many minutes before they thinned out at the edge of the town. He spotted the trio of Tamanegi, Ninjin, and Piiman waiting at their standard meeting spot and backed up a bit. He stopped behind a bush and rolled around on the ground for a few seconds, followed by a few pathetic attempts at push-ups.

Rushing out of the bushes, he looked far worse-for-wear than reading a book on the beach should have made him.

"Captain! Are you alright, were there pirates?" Through the three kids yelling at him, this was the only sentence he could make out.

"Worse than pirates, far worse! I was attacked by an island monster; it was a surprise even to me. The island said that it had come to destroy our village and take Kaya back to be its queen. I obviously had to stop it."

"So what did you do?" The shining eyes of his pseudo-comrades pushed his lying into overdrive.

"Well, first I tried to reason with it," Usopp began, closing his eyes with a smirk in his traditional victory pose, "I quickly learned that a giant flying landmass has no sense for the truly masculine nature of logic and debate. So as a great hero of the sea, I had no choice but to show that island who was boss! The great pirate Usopp could never be defeated by the likes of something as small as an island, after all."

The trio was awed as usual, gossiping with each other as they all wandered into town. The occasional remark would be directed at Usopp, who deflected the conversation back to the young ones as quickly as it came. He had reflected seriously in the past about his inability to deal with juvenile discussion, and over time he had studied the interaction of these children to the point that he would never have difficulty with such a thing again.

One of the three had mentioned being hungry, and they parted ways with Usopp. He suggested to them that they had better eat healthy, to grow up as strong as he had, and that they should meet up again and discuss their next pirate exploits as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, Usopp had come back to his own house. Midday was settling in, and he had to admit that he was quite hungry himself.

"Hypocrite," he said to himself, staring at his pantry, "I haven't eaten healthy in years."

His pantry was nearly barren; a few of his least favorite foods resting in the back corners of the highest shelves, barely hidden by the few loaves of bread he had left. Usopp had long since run out of the money his dad had left him, and the villagers were only kind enough to give him the worst of their leftovers. Eating healthy was a dream within a dream for him.

"Skip vitamins and nutrients, I'm barely going to get enough calories to survive at this point."

His lunch was not enjoyable, and he sat down at his table with his lone chair gazing out the window at the mansion in the distance.

The mansion was where the beautiful and wealthy lady of the village, Kaya, lived. The beautiful gardens, the extraordinary architecture and artwork, the pride of Syrup Village.

Usopp hated it.

The manor that held all of the villages wealth and kept him out. Kaya could live there like a queen, never having worked a day in her life, while the entire village ate whatever they could grow themselves and wore the same clothes day after day. He did feel some compassion toward Kaya; he knew it was not her fault. She was constantly bed-ridden and did not have any particular way of enjoying her status, and she was not in control of the wealth that ran through her accounts.

That privilege belonged to her two stewards; Merry and Klahadore. Merry, the strange looking, naïve, preppy butler that served Kaya at her every whim. And, of course, Klahadore.

The pirate.

Usopp shivered in anger at the thought of Klahadore, the onetime captain of the Black Cat Pirates. Since he was young, Usopp had always kept up to date with the on-goings of both the world, and East Blue in particular. It was hard to ignore a famous mass-murderer falling off the radar just before an incredibly similar man showed up as the hand servant for a family with wealth beyond his wildest dreams.

Usopp had first started the Usopp Pirates as a mockery of Captain Kuro, hoping to get a rise out of the former pirate by showcasing his way of life as a game for children. The man by the alias of Klahadore had indeed been furious, but showcased it as being protective of Kaya. Usopp never stopped, always coming up with tales of glory to tell Kaya, each more incredible and unbelievable than the last. Anything to provide some form of entertainment while he was attached to this island.

It was then, after finishing his meager meal, that Usopp decided to visit Kaya once more, making up the details of his man-versus-island battle as he walked along to the mansion. Slipping onto the property without being seen, he reached up to her window.

"Kaya," Usopp whispered, "It's me, Captain Usopp! How are you today?"

He heard the clamoring of feet as she slid out of bed and quickly came to the window, pushing the curtains out of the way and leaning out to see him.

"I'm doing well, Usopp. Klahadore is making me my favorite ice cream today, I'm very much looking forward to it. How have the Usopp Pirate adventures been recently?"

"Oh, but a manly pirate like Captain Usopp doesn't boast about his feats of heroism!" Usopp adopted his favorite pose, adding a 'thumbs up' feature to the mix, prepared to go through the motions and readying his tale.

Kaya giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Usopp genuinely smiled when he saw this, and was always capable of admitting to himself that she was quite cute when she was so happy.

"I do have to ask though, my lady, if you know of any flying islands that you may be the Princess of."

"I daresay I have never seen a flying island in my life!"

' _Neither have I. Neither has anyone, probably._ '

"Well one just flew down to the beach and threatened to take you away, to rule over that country!"

"Why, that's incredible Usopp! What happened next?"

Usopp smirked and pointed a thumb at himself.

"That island chose the wrong Princess to come after!" He boasted, "Of course, I'm sure the island didn't know ahead of time that you would be guarded by the great Captain Usopp, or it would never have come. I took it out without any trouble, as easy as pie."

"You took it out by yourself?" Kaya gasped, "But what about your crew?"

"Ah, well, you see," Usopp stammered, "They were, ah, having lunch! Or perhaps it was breakfast. It was quite early, I imagine they were having breakfast. You should see the mess hall during breakfast, with eight thousand men it's pretty crowded!"

Before Kaya responded, the sound knocking came from the door. Usopp went to run back to the wall, assuming it was Klahadore, before he heard Merry's voice.

"Kaya, are you feeling alright? Klahadore should have your ice cream ready shortly."

"Yes, I'm feeling fine, thank you Merry!" Kaya responded, a light cough during a pause.

Usopp breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. I thought it was Klahadore. He'd have kicked me out as soon as he saw me."

"How could I knock on the door when I'm out here getting rid of the trash?"

Usopp closed his eyes and sighed inwardly. He opened them again just as quickly, preparing his cowardly face as he turned around.

"K-k-klahadore! How nice to see you today on this nice… day! Isn't it lovely? Look, there's even a quadruple rainbow on the horizon over there!"

Usopp's blatant lies went disregarded by the pirate-turned-butler, and Usopp was escorted from the premise rather unkindly.

As he got up to walk away from the mansion, he heard Kaya attempting to yell at Klahadore about Usopp's good intentions while the servant rebuked her, insulting Usopp for his lies and cowardice.

Usopp disregarded both and walked away, back to the far beach.

The village was calming down for the day, villagers offering him either looks of pity or looks of contempt based on their understanding of his situation. As they began to shrink into their homes to prepare dinner for their families, Usopp was reminded of his own father.

Although Yasopp had essentially left him and his mother to die, Usopp did not hate him for it. Instead, Usopp was quite proud of his father's decisions. After his mother had died, Usopp imagined his future being much like his father's life; he would marry Kaya, have a child, and then leave the island to write his name in the history books. His romantic dreams had faded somewhat, and his feelings for Kaya had been little more than a childhood crush, but his desire to explore the world and make his mark on it was still burning.

He had reached the edge of the island for the second time today, wandering down the path to his favorite reading spot and uncovering his book, _World Government Post-Void Century_ , and began where he had left off.

 _Three-hundred and fourteen years after the Void Century, the World Government had placed an intense hold on movement between islands on the water route now known as the Grand Line. Desperately searching for a way to fend off the wave of piracy that was affecting even the citizens of peaceful islands, the marines seized as many Eternal Poses as they could acquire, destroying the surplus and returning the poses only to shipping merchants that agreed to the terms and conditions set forth by the newest laws._

 _The great pirate of the age, Sparth the Wall, saw this as a challenge directed at all pirates alike, bringing multiple infamous crews together to form the first and last ever Pirate Alliance. This Alliance lasted from 315-317, when Sparth was executed at Mariejois in front of the World Nobles._

 _Ramifications of this trade embargo continue to this day. Eternal Poses are incredibly costly to make, and the government still keeps a majority of them under their own control. Although trade between islands regained legality in 339 under the New Trade Agreement, the short change in island culture lead to a rift between islands that has never been repaired._

 _Similar examples of the World Government exercising mass regulations on economy exist in the history of Logue Town, an port town in East Blue that is now famous as the execution location for Gol D. Rogers, infamously dubbed 'The Pirate King' by peers and enemies alike._

 _Logue Town was subjected to an unfavorable immigration law during the rule of…_

Usopp placed his book down and stared out to the sky, where the sun was beginning to set. He covered his book once again and turned to climb the rock wall that lead up the cliff face. It had been a physical exercise of his for years, forcing himself to take the extreme way up instead of following the path that was laid out for him. He knew it would not help his musculature or fitness without proper nutrition, but it was the frame of mind that he was after. Self-improvement at every turn.

At the top of the cliff, Usopp stared at the brilliant red and pink hues that lit up the sky. It had always made him feel small, the sight of such a massive, out of reach object like the sun, but when he watched it set he was connected with every other person in the world. Where the sun was setting for him, someone out there was watching it rise to begin their own day. Nothing drove his ambitions more than the need to constantly feel that.

He craved recognition, mostly. The feeling of being connected with someone made him think of how it would feel to always have someone thinking about you. Someone he had never met, going about their own life that no one would ever care about, yet knowing the story of Usopp.

As the sun set, Usopp returned to the village and begged for whatever scraps he could from the villagers. He ate them alone at the tiny table in his tiny house on the edge of his tiny village on that tiny, infinitesimal speck of an island. When he lied down to sleep, he could only think the same thing he thought every night.

' _I have to get off of this island. I have to get off of this island. I have to get…_ '

* * *

It had been several weeks since Usopp's run-in with the flying island, and he had finally begun to see signs of Klahadore making his move for Kaya's fortune. The paper had been reporting multiple sightings of the Black Cat Pirates for months, but their locations had never struck Usopp as anything of note. The past three updates, however, formed a straight line to Syrup Village.

Usopp had been visiting Kaya even more than usual throughout this period, checking up on Klahadore's mood daily to check for any deviations. He was right; with each passing day, Klahadore seemed more rushed and less concerned with Usopp's presence. Earlier that day, he had simply walked right past Usopp in the garden, fixing his glasses and smirking to himself. If there was any time to make his move, now was the time.

Having a decent mind for navigation and sailing, Usopp began to formulate a plan as he went back to his house.

' _There's no way I can take all of the money. There's also no way I can compete with Kuro in legitimate combat. As much as I would love to test out my slingshot, I doubt I would stand a chance. However, there is no doubt that I could take some of the treasure before it makes it to him and his pirates. I'll have no problem stowing away on the ship that Kaya has been hiding until they've left town, and then I can leave as well._ '

Making it to his house, he began to gather his favorite belongings in a rucksack to take with him.

"And lastly, slingshot, check. Good to go. Ah, forgot my book," Usopp realized, heading out the door toward the shore. He was quickly accosted by his three followers, sprinting at him with what must have seemed like urgent news to them.

"Captain Usopp!" Ninjin started, clearly out of breath. "Pirates! There are pirates coming to shore!"

His partners nodded vigorously, and turned to head back to the shore.

' _Great,_ ' Usopp thought, ' _Now I have to spend half the day convincing villagers that pirates are coming. Again._ '

"Don't you worry! Captain Usopp is on the job! No pirate will step foot in my village for as long as they call me a great hero!"

Jogging lightly through the trees to find fake cover from the fake pirates, Usopp began to daydream of what the waters would be like past the island, out in the real ocean. He could feel the sea breeze on his face, see the sights of distant islands calling out to him, waiting for his arrival.

Upon reaching the shore, he saw that his fake cover from fake pirates had become real cover from very real pirates. The small vessel, even smaller than the one Kaya had, was pulling to shore along with its three occupants.

As they walked out onto the beach, Usopp realized that he had no way of dealing with the pirates without giving anything away to his entourage. Even worse, he had no way of knowing if these three were even pirates. Two of them certainly looked less than ferocious, and the third looked more like a bodyguard than a pirate.

"Halt! Hold your ground, scum! This island here is property of the great pirate, Captain Usopp, captain of the Usopp Pirates!"

The first member of the boat's crew, a thin clueless fellow with a red vest and a straw hat, stepped forward from the boat with an interested smile on his face.

"Where are you, Captain Usopp?" the stranger called, looking at the bush around them.

' _Not good. And I have to use ridiculous lies on top of this. What a great day this is turning out to be._ '

"I'm here!" Usopp stepped out from his bush, "But don't move! I have eight thousand pirates surrounding you right now, you have no chance. Surrender and leave!"

A crewmate of the scrawny straw hat walked up next to him, crossing her arms over her chest with a stern look on her face.

' _She's beautiful_ ,' Usopp thought, ' _I've never seen a woman like her before. Kaya doesn't compare to a real woman._ '

"Where do you think you're going to put eight thousand men on a tiny beach? Do you really expect us to believe there are even ten men hiding in these bushes?"

' _Well, she's certainly smarter than the trio of morons that follow me around._ '

Sure enough, as Usopp glanced toward the Usopp Pirates, they were all astounded to be found out so easily. They stared at Usopp in anticipation.

"What, you mean he was lying?" the initial crewmember spoke, "Aww man, I thought for sure we were going to have to fight thousands! That's too bad."

Usopp couldn't help a strange look at that man on the beach, wondering what kind of insane person would look forward to being killed by thousands of pirates. The third member of the boat finished anchoring the vessel and joined the other two, a face that Usopp recognized immediately.

' _That's Pirate Hunter Zoro! Not good. These guys are definitely not pirates._ '

"He's right. I could definitely have used an opportunity to test my blades. Eight thousand sounds like a worthy number."

Usopp was trapped. He had only had a few days left on this island, and now trouble had arrived in the form of this odd trio on his favorite beach and he had only one way to deal with it.

Usopp took off his rucksack and placed it on the ground, reaching in it for the possession he prized most highly. He grabbed a stone off the ground, fitted it into his slingshot, and aimed at the man with the straw hat.

"Okay, so my eight thousand soldiers are on break right now!" Usopp yelled, subconsciously changing 'pirate' to 'soldier' in the presence of Zoro, "But I'm the captain for a reason. I won't miss, and you won't get up after I hit you. Stand down, head back to your boat, and turn around! You will regret it if you take one more step."

Zoro seemed to take it as a challenge rather than a warning, stepping forward with a hand now on the hilt of his swords. However, he stopped advancing when the skinny guy reached a hand out in front of him.

"Before you shoot us, I have a question! Do you know a great pirate named Yasopp?"

Shocked, Usopp lowered his weapon and gazed at the man. No one had spoken of his father in years in the village, ever since his mother had died, and it was strange hearing his name on someone else's tongue.

"I do, he's my father. Who are you, how do you know him?" Regaining his senses and remembering these were pirate hunters, he raised his weapon seriously this time, "Are you here to try and kill him? He's not here! I'll kill you if you try!"

But the straw hat kid took the hat from his head and smiled at Usopp with a wider grin than seemed physically possible.

"Of course not! I knew Yasopp growing up, he was a member of Shanks' crew, he used to talk about his son to me all the time. You must be that Usopp!"

* * *

After talking with them for a short while, Usopp began leading the crew to the village to learn more about them. The kid wearing the straw hat was Luffy, the captain of the other two. Usopp was mildly surprised to find out that Zoro had changed sides, becoming a member of a pirate crew himself. The third member, the beauty, was named Nami, a navigator who did not mesh well with Usopp. Far from it; she had already acted so high and mighty during their brief walk that Usopp was concerned that he would snap and break character.

During the few minutes before he had allowed them to walk up the beach, Usopp had carefully been crafting his own life story, revolving around lies about lies, telling Luffy and his crew that he was lying to people daily because of the misery of losing his mother. The trio of Usopp Pirates walking with them had helped him sell it without trying, shedding tears over his heartfelt sob story. It hadn't been hard to act like he had been hiding it from them all this time; it had just made it feel more real. What he hadn't expected, however, were the tears of the pirate captain at hand.

"That's… That's just so sad!" Luffy barely got out, tears streaming down his eyes as fast as he wiped them away.

Nami and Zoro seemed less emotional about it, but he had little doubt that they'd believed him. Now, he simply needed to find a way to use that to his advantage.

"Hey, listen guys! You need to meet Kaya. She's this beautiful girl that lives in town, she'd love to meet you!" Usopp grinned as Luffy agreed, his companions following.

"She's very ill," he began, as they walked toward the mansion in the center of town, "But she doesn't let that get her down. Everyone tries so hard to cheer her up when she gets sad. I know she would love to meet real pirates."

Luffy agreed quickly, which meant that Zoro agreed as well. Usopp noted that Zoro seemed to follow this Luffy character without any hesitation. Nami, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as fond of Luffy's decisions, a trait that Usopp actually would have praised her for if he wasn't stuck acting the fool.

' _Luffy must be powerful if Zoro follows him. Zoro doesn't seem the type to bend to the will of anyone except someone who can best him in battle._ '

"Hey," he began, "How did you three meet, anyway?"

"I met Zoro when he was tied to a post!"

"I was tied to it voluntarily! I didn't know it was a trick."

"Zoro was captured by marines," Luffy continued, "They were mean to a little girl so he stopped them. Then this really weird helmet haircut guy promised Zoro he'd let him go if he stayed in a field for 30 days without food."

"They were lying, though, of course," Usopp said immediately.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Zoro spoke, grinding his teeth.

Usopp almost told him how obvious it was, but remembered that he was keeping up his cowardly lying idiot act for the time being.

"You know, hindsight is twenty-twenty! I guess it's just easy to see looking back. Then what happened?"

"I overheard helmet head saying that he wasn't going to let Zoro go, so I beat them all up."

Luffy said it so simply that the sweat-drop on Usopp's head was clearly visible.

"You just beat up a whole base of marines? Just to save a guy you didn't even know?"

"Yup."

"Luffy's an idiot," Nami said, "You get used to it, a little bit."

"Nami and I met later. She tried to kill me and sell me to a clown for money, but we're friends now."

' _This guy is a huge moron,_ ' Usopp thought to himself, ' _But he must be pretty damn strong. I might be able to use these guys to my advantage, especially if Zoro and Luffy are as simple-minded as it sounds._ '

Reaching the end of their stories, they had also reached the end of the path, Kaya's mansion directly in front of them. Nami's eyes filled with Beli looking at the huge house, Luffy amazed at the sight of such a beautiful place.

Usopp lead them inside through his favorite secret entrance, checking for Klahadore's presence before they rushed across the yard to Kaya's window.

"Kaya, wake up! It's me, Usopp!"

The window had been closed this time, but Kaya still heard him and opened the window to lean out and speak to them.

"Usopp, you brought friends! My name is Kaya, who are you all?"

"Friends? We just met this buffoon on the-" Zoro began, before Nami cut him off, Beli still lighting up her eyes.

"Don't listen to this moron, we're great friends of Usopp! You must be that absolutely beautiful girl that Usopp never stops speaking of, I'm Nami. Idiot One here is Luffy, and Idiot Two is Zoro. Pleasure to meet you, Miss Kaya," Nami had spit it out so eloquently and quickly that even Usopp almost believed her.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Klahadore's movements rounding toward them. Usopp gathered himself briefly, planning his next lines carefully. "Actually, these three are here to join my crew! They're famous pirates, Zoro was actually a great pirate hunter before joining with Luffy to come seek me out."

"Yeah!" Luffy said, surprising Usopp, "Wait, hold on. That's not why we're here."

"Shh, no need to be humble about it, Luffy. Many people come here to seek me as a captain. You'll have to pass rigorous tests to join me, of course. Like defeating a giant fish, possibly one with poops that are the size of rafts."

"Poops that are the size of rafts?!" Luffy exclaimed, "That's huge! Guys, do you think instead of a ship, we could ride a-"

"NO!" Zoro and Nami's fists both crashed into the immature boy's head, knocking him to the ground.

"Actually, Kaya, we've landed on this ship looking for a boat," Nami began, "But we're not sure where to get one. Ours is quite small, it can't really handle a crew of anything more than us three."

' _Oh no_.'

"Actually, one of my attendants is a shipwright!"

' _No, no, no, no._ '

"I'm not sure if I should just give it to you, though. I barely know you all. Usopp, what do you think?"

Usopp paused for a split second, long enough to regain composition and come up with the suitable lines for the moment. "Well, as I said, these three need to pass my tests to join my crew. If they can't pass these tests, then they'll have no need for the new boat anyway. Now, as I was saying, about these tests-"

"You all can't just barge into this mansion whenever you please! Who are you people?" Klahador approached them in the yard, adjusting his glasses with his palm.

"Ah, Klahador! These people are my newest-"

"No need to explain, Kaya, you need your rest," Klahador cut off the girl, turning to Luffy. "Please leave, if you have nothing more to say."

"I want a ship!" Luffy responded, reading the situation as poorly as Usopp should have expected.

"No."

Usopp discretely backed away, hoping that Klahadore would be forced to reveal his nature if Zoro or Luffy confronted him.

"Oh, that's too bad."

Usopp gaped openly. A brazen pirate captain who had claimed just hours ago that he would become the Pirate King was just accepting no for an answer from a complete nobody. That complete nobody did happen to be an ex-pirate captain, but Luffy had no way of knowing that.

"Oh, Usopp. Looks like you're back again."

Realizing he had wasted his opportunity to get away, Usopp rejoined the pirates in front of Klahadore.

A sneer rose on the butler's face. "How are you doing today, Captain Usopp?"

"Whoa, so you really are a captain?" Usopp leaned his head back and smirked at Luffy's comment.

"Of course I am! I'm the Great Captain Usopp! Leader of thousands of men, after all."

Klahadore scoffed. "Leader of three children and son of a good-for-nothing, filthy pirate. You need to stay away from Lady Kaya. You're not even in the same class, you'll dirty her reputation just by being on her lawn."

There were very few times when Usopp would get angry, and even a smaller percentage of those times would he allow himself to lose his cool over it. "My father was not filthy! He was a great man! Take that back this instant!"

"Or what? You'll smell bad near me? Can you even afford a shower? That must be the reason you come here all the time. You're trying to get at Kaya's money, aren't you?"

"Shut up!" Kaya screamed from her window, slamming her fists on the sill. "Don't talk to Usopp like that! He's a nice person, he wouldn't do that! He's one of my friends!"

The atmosphere changed, focus shifting to Kaya. Out of breath, wheezing from her room, she had shocked everyone present with her sudden outburst.

It was Klahadore who was the first to break the silence, returning is attention to Usopp. "Shouldn't you be telling lies about your father, instead? Saying he was some veteran lost at war or something, denying that he was a pathetic treasure hunter that left you and your mother to die alone?"

Usopp's anger got the best of him, swinging a fist from the butler's blind spot as he lifted his palm to fix his glasses. The butler hit the ground hard, holding his broken glasses and wiping blood from his nose.

"You just prove my point, you brute! Pirates are just good for nothing, lying savages! All of you! Get out of here at once!"

Usopp stomped off without another word, headed for the gate and ignoring Kaya disciplining Klahadore. He had cooled off, the punch taking away his rage. Klahadore's words could not hurt him anymore, they were meaningless, coming from another deceiver. As if the ex-captain of the Black Cat Pirates could really talk down to pirates. He vaguely heard Luffy calling Klahadore an idiot, and chuckled as he walked out through the front gate. He was sure he could get this situation to work out in his favor. All he needed was to find the right trigger.

* * *

Out by the shore, Usopp had not taken out his book. He knew the Black Cat Pirates would be closing in, and he could not risk being spotted by a telescope. Even if he knew they were coming, it was foolish to underestimate your enemies. Instead, he paused below an apple tree overlooking the coast and waited.

It was nearly an hour later, deep in his own thoughts, that he was disturbed by a pirate. Not the pirate he was expecting, though.

"Hi!" The face of Luffy jumped into view from above him, hanging out of the tree branch, and caused Usopp to fall off of the rock he was perched on.

"Do you do anything like a normal person?"

"Hmm," Luffy put a hand to his chin, deep in thought, "Nope!"

Usopp didn't know what to make of the grinning psychopath pirate in front of him, so just opted to steer the conversation in the direction he needed.

"So, you knew Shanks and my dad? I can't believe my dad is sailing with such a famous pirate."

Luffy nodded. "Yeah, your dad is incredible! He said he could shoot the antennae right off of an ant at a hundred paces! I don't know how he does it. He's funny, just like you. I like him a lot."

"Do you know anything about where they went?"

"They went to the Grand Line! That's where I'm going, too. I want to meet Shanks again, to thank him for saving my life."

This was the first moment that Usopp was truly considering joining Luffy, considering the possibilities that lay in wait on the Grand Line. Images appeared in his head of victory and glory, the great Usopp arriving in the new world hailed by all, standing on the bow of a ship with a look of triumph on his face. The look on his face reflected his thoughts, and he was quick to cover up his slight smirk before Luffy could notice.

Instead, Luffy was crouched at the edge of the cliff, a hand shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked over the ocean. "That girl must be a really great friend. She kept telling that butler how nice you were to her."

' _That's because she's practically in love with me, for no reason whatsoever,_ ' Usopp thought, turning over to look at Luffy and chuckling nervously. "Ah, well, you really think so? She's just so nice, that's all. We could never be together, not with that jerk of a butler always around. It felt great to smack him one, he deserves another punch!"

The pirate captain pointed a thumb over his shoulder, down toward the beach at the bottom of the cliff, "Well I won't tell him, but you should be quiet about it or he'll probably hear you."

Usopp's eyes bugged out as he dropped to the ground and crawled to the edge, looking down to see Klahador standing on the beach with a dark expression over his face.

' _Who is that guy?_ ' Usopp wondered, staring at the strange man with the heart-shaped glasses standing with Klahadore. ' _Unless… The Black Cat Pirates must already be here. That's not a great sign. I need to get my plans rolling._ '

"Jango, I asked you not to draw attention to yourself and you walked right into the center of the village and fell asleep. Now is not the time to be messing with our plans."

Jango, the man Klahadore was speaking with, adopted a strange pose and covered his face with his hat. "I'm not some weird looking guy, so I couldn't have attracted anyone's attention."

Luffy turned to Usopp atop the cliff, "What a weird looking guy."

"Yeah," Usopp replied. "But who is he, and what's he doing with the butler?"

Meanwhile, Klahadore had adopted a more serious tone with the man opposite him. "So, are you all prepared to begin the plan?"

' _This must be the plan to steal Kaya's wealth. Hearing the details could be vital. I can use this._ '

"Yes, of course. We can start plan Assassinate Kaya whenever you're ready."

Both Usopp and Luffy's eyes shot open, for completely different reasons. Luffy had no idea that the butler was a villain in any way. Usopp, on the other hand, knew exactly what it meant. The ex-pirate captain wasn't fooling around; he had decided that he would use the easiest avenue possible to get Kaya's money. This was the worst possible situation for Usopp, as a more complicated plan would have cracks that he could exploit. The only way, at this moment, that he could make it off of this island with any of Kaya's riches and her boat by himself was with physical force equal to or surpassing Klahadore's own.

Usopp dropped his head. He had no such force.

"Don't say something like assassinate. It's an ugly word for such a flawless plan."

"Yeah, alright. We'll call it an accident then, Captain Kuro."

Usopp feigned a reaction, but it was difficult to put up a façade in the poor circumstances he found himself in. Luffy, however, was too clueless to care. "What are those guys talking about?"

"You heard them as well as I did," Usopp replied, "The butler is actually Captain Kuro in disguise. He was a famous pirate! I thought he was dead, though."

Meanwhile, on the beach, Kuro had told off Jango for referring to him by his old name and rank.

"Ah, you're right. I still remember that day like it was yesterday, when you named me the captain and gave up piracy. But now that you're back, we'll rule the seas again!"

Kuro shook his head, adjusting his newly replaced glasses with his palm. "No. I'm not going back to that life. I will take all of her wealth lawfully, and live out the rest of my days as a rich man without any fear of the marines."

Jango nodded his head, but still had questions for his captain. "How are you going to get it lawfully? You aren't secretly related to her, are you? Or maybe… betrothed?!"

Luffy gasped loudly, and Usopp had to cover his mouth with his hand just to keep him from giving away their position.

"Of course not, you buffoon," Kuro replied, before Luffy could ask anything, "That's why you're vital to this. You're a hypnotist, Jango, so do what you do best. Have her write off her entire fortune to me! Then, when she dies, all of the wealth will end up in my hands."

' _This is not good. But, if Luffy is as simple natured as he seems, he might be a decent diversion while I steal off in Kaya's ship. Maybe I should take her with me, too. It would be unfair to leave her to die. Although, that would mean Kuro would be coming after us… Not a situation we should be in._ '

"So what's going on?"

Usopp took a few seconds to figure out what this guy was even asking him. "You mean right now? Did you even hear what he said? What is unclear to you, here?"

"Um… All of it."

"You're really dense, you know that? Those guys are going to kill Kaya, and hypnotize her so Captain Kuro can walk away with her money!"

Usopp barely had time to regret his words, as Luffy stood up on the cliff face and yelled out to the beach-dwellers, "Hey! You two down there, don't you dare touch that nice lady!"

"You complete idiot! Now they'll know we're here!" Usopp grapped Luffy's arm and tried to pull him back down, only to be shocked when the captain's arm stretched down to the ground. "What are you?!"

"Oh, that brat from earlier. And Usopp! My favorite lying piece of trash. Did you hear anything you shouldn't have?"

"Nope!" Usopp yelled out to the beach. "We didn't-"

"We heard everything!"

Usopp stared at the captain, patiently holding onto his character.

"Well then, take a look at this pendulum, guys," Jango said, holding up a circular blade on a string. "When I say 'one, two, Jango', you will fall asleep."

Usopp readied himself to look away, deciding whether to jump back from the cliff or focus on something outside of the hypnosis ring. Midway through Jango's count, he realized that there was no way Luffy would be smart enough to look away. "Jango."

It was too late. Luffy had fallen asleep, as well as the man doing the hypnosis. ' _I'm surrounded by morons._ ' Usopp grabbed Luffy by the back of the shirt and pulled him away from the cliff, as he was swaying dangerously in his sleep.

Usopp took a deep breath and faced Kuro on the beach, staring him down. A smirk rose to his face. "I suppose there's no need for pretense here. No one will believe what you say. It's nice to finally be able to call you Kuro."

Kuro's eyes narrowed. "How long have you known?"

"Please," Usopp replied, "A tall, black haired man appears in my village for no reason just weeks after the Black Cat is supposedly executed? Although I'd love to hear how you did it, there's not much time. Know this, however. I was planning on letting you take Kaya's money, as long as I could get away with a small amount. No longer. You will not kill that girl. I will make sure of it. See you on the other shore, Captain."

With that, Usopp grabbed Luffy and slapped his face a few times until he started to wake up. He could hear Kuro rushing down the beach to the path up the cliff, but it would not be in time as Luffy began to stir. "Whoa, Usopp. What happened? I was looking at that weird-looking guy and I fell asleep."

"Don't worry about that, now. We need to head back the village and protect Kaya," Usopp instructed, while pulling fully conscious Luffy to his feet. "Or my name isn't the great Captain Usopp!"

Luffy grinned, nodding, before they both ran off into the village.

* * *

Arriving at the village, they filled Zoro and Nami in on their sightings at the beach. Usopp was slowly growing into using his false, cowardly persona to urge Luffy's crew in the right direction, convincing them with subtle ideas and hints to head down to the beach to defend it from the pirates.

"But which beach?" Nami asked, running a hand through her hair. "They could be coming from either side of the village, or setting up a pincer attack to attack the village from both sides. How is this even going to work for Kuro? If they killed everyone to prevent the survival of witnesses, do you really think anyone would buy in to that butler being the only survivor and heir to the fortune? It's a ridiculous plan."

Usopp stared openly at the red-haired beauty, admiring her deduction but doubting her qualifications. "That's true, but Kuro's crazy! He would do it anyway. I doubt he would be convinced to just leave us alone if we pointed out flaws in his plan."

"Why don't we just wait here? Seems like we could defend the mansion pretty easily."

"No, Zoro," Usopp replied, "There are too many of them! And Captain Kuro is incredibly well known for his skill. We definitely have to catch him in a trap."

Although Usopp said this, he knew that there would be no trap capable of catching Kuro, especially after announcing his intentions to protect Kaya on the beach. ' _Why did I do that? No show of pride is worth such a huge loss in tactical advantage._ ' Instead, Usopp realized that even if Zoro and Luffy were capable of defeating all the pirates in a siege-defense situation, the village would be destroyed as collateral. They needed to take the fight to the beach, where they would have both the high-ground and an uninhabited battle ground.

"Well, you live here. What kind of trap are you suggesting?"

"Er, well," Usopp stuttered a bit, trying to figure out a way to get them attached to his plan. "What are you guys good at?"

"Cutting."

"Stretching."

"Stealing."

"Hiding."

"You have to fight, too, moron!"

"Alright, alright," Usopp responded. "We'll camp out on the path that they'll attack from. They'll definitely be at the beach tomorrow morning! Let's head out!"

Usopp made sure not to mention where he'd come to this conclusion. ' _Kuro specifically said that Jango walked through the village for the meeting. He must be docked at the opposite shore. They only have one ship, and I doubt he's taking us seriously as a threat. There's no reason for him to go out of his way to set up a pincer attack, especially if he still has pride as a fighter._ '

"Prepare yourselves for battle! I'm going home for a nap. Have a nice night!" Usopp ran away from the crew long before they could say anything in protest. He had plans to arrange.

* * *

The next morning, Usopp awoke well rested and full of energy. He had reasoned that he needed to be properly fed so, with good intentions, he had snuck into the village and stolen a pasta dish and loaded up on carbohydrates for dinner. He would not feel bad about it; they would lose a lot more than pasta if his battle was lost due to low energy or poor cerebral function. Just after sundown he had crept out to the northern beach, setting up for the next day's battle. Sure enough, Kuro's ship was docked far off port, though difficult to see for anyone with less than Usopp's vision. He returned to his house for proper sleep.

He then arrived at the beach before sunrise, finding Luffy and his crew already there. They had moved their own ship to the opposite shore during the night, camping out on the soft ground at the top of the slope. Without words, they waited. As sun rose, the silhouette of the Black Cat Pirates ship approached.

Usopp's heart and mind were filled with equal parts fear and calculation, running through his own plans and possible countermeasures at the same rate as envisioning his own demise at the hand of Kuro's claws. Rather than the fear, his confidence grew the closer the vessel came to shore. He knew he would be able to escape the fray and make it out with Kaya. The only question was when to do so.

The ship's anchor was tossed over the side of the ship, well off shore. This was both a victory and an upsetting fact in Usopp's mind. He had certainly wanted the main ship as far away from the shore as possible, but it showed that Kuro had a shrewd sense of tactics over even such an insignificant foe as Usopp. Kuro wasn't going to risk his ship on the off chance that there was a trap, which meant Usopp might not be able to catch him in a trap set ashore.

As the rowboats came in from, Usopp took a moment to evaluate his comrades for this particular battle. He knew Roronoa was a fearsome swordsman, and now that he had seen Luffy's devil fruit power he began to second guess his initial assessment of the self-proclaimed captain. If Zoro was really following Luffy due to his strength, they were a formidable team. Though he doubted Nami's physical capabilities, she seemed to have a shrewd sense of strategy and the soundest mind of the three. Even assuming her battle ability was low, she stood as resolute as her partners watching the pirates finally hit the shore.

The first boat to make it to shore was not Kuro's, and Usopp was not surprised. Instead, the first boat was the hypnotist Jango's, along with two very strange individuals. Usopp didn't quite know what to make of them, but they had looks of a far more real power than the other pirates landing on the beach.

' _Well, no time like the present._ '

"Jango! My name is Captain Usopp! I suggest you take your pirates away, or face my army of one million men!" The façade must be kept up, after all.

"What?! One million men?" Usopp had assumed that no one would be dumb enough to fall for such a lie. He had certainly not expected the person to believe him to be standing right next to him.

"Luffy, you moron!" Nami swung a fist into the back of her captain's head. "It's an outrageous lie! Where would he fit one million people?"

Usopp turned back to the beach, where a similar situation had occurred to Jango.

"What? You were trying to trick me!" Jango reached into his pocket, grabbing his pendulum. "You can't fool me!"

"He totally fooled you, boss."

"No way! I knew it was a lie. Now, you'll all fall asleep at the count of Jango!"

Instead of taking the opportunity to hide, the mistake he had made on the cliff side the day prior, Usopp reached down in front of him and grabbed a thin wire hiding in the sand.

"One! Two! Jango!" Though his chant came to completion, the smokescreen that now covered the entire path up the slope kept the talisman out of the sight of Usopp and his partners.

"Okay," Usopp dropped the one-use wire, turning to the others. "Let's get them!"

"But where are they?" Usopp resisted the urge to smack himself in the face. He pointed down to the edge of the beach where the smoke had begun to clear. Luffy nodded and charged in, Zoro rushing in after him.

He turned back toward the fourth member. "And why are you just standing here?"

Nami crossed her arms. "Who said I was going to fight? I'm just a navigator. I'm just here to look pretty and steal treasure."

Pretending to shed a few tears, Usopp raised his thumb to her. "Comrades!"

Returning his attention to the fight, he wished he had not allowed himself to be distracted. The majority of the pirates were on the ground or unconscious, the few left standing backing away from the duo he had sent in.

"Whoa, they're really strong."

"Of course we are!" Luffy shouted back up the slope. "I'm going to become The Pirate King!"

Usopp crossed his arms and allowed the rubberman to return to fighting, watching with interest. His fighting wasn't as refined or technical as Zoro, mostly defeating these subpar pirates through surprise and the opponent's lack of experience fighting such an unorthodox battle.

On the other hand, Zoro was a model of skill a precision. Usopp noticed that no pirates appeared dead or even wounded on either side of the battle. A simple task for Luffy, who fought with no weapon, but a very difficult one for Zoro and his swords. Each blow was well thought out and executed, and in a span of time well below that of a normal human's reaction. Taking his mind off the battle momentarily, he turned his attention to the ship where Kuro was. His silhouette was perched just behind the ship's masthead, calm and unmoving.

"At the count of Jango, you'll all grow stronger, and your wounds will heal!" Usopp directed his attention to Jango as he lifted his pendulum once more.

"Luffy! You've got something on your back! I think it's a spider!" Luffy turned his neck to look at his back, not even bothering to move the rest of his body. Zoro looked as well, and Nami had turned with a quizzical look to Usopp.

"One, two, Jango!"

The crew that was still conscious had fallen into Jango's spell, growing enraged and regaining their stamina.

Nami was still looking at Usopp. "Why didn't you let Luffy and Zoro look? They would have grown stronger, too."

Usopp was well aware of how hypnotism worked. The power of suggestion is a mind-controlling technique. Although the user can direct the brain to do certain things, the hypnotist must control the entire mind to do so. Becoming entranced, even if it produced beneficial results, would still be the result of being under Jango's mind control. Regardless of whether or not Jango would be capable of abusing this, the most important factor in any battle was to retain the ability to react and respond to changes on the battlefield. To lose this ability would lose them the fight, and likely their lives.

Nami didn't need to know this. Instead, Usopp turned his head slowly to her, wide-eyed. "I have… Arachnophobia. Spiders scare me."

Nami sighed, returning her attention to the battle, well aware now that she was surrounded by three male buffoons. Precisely how Usopp wanted it to be.

The battle was going less well than before. Luffy and Zoro were clearly going to come out victorious, but Luffy needed to use more powerful attacks while Zoro was no longer knocking out his opponents with one or two flashes of the blade. With the two suspicious characters still by Jango's side, Usopp assumed correctly that they were being saved for later in the battle, and he made his decision to pull back.

"Luffy, Zoro, come on back up here! I have a plan!" Neither of them responded.

Usopp thought for a moment, analyzing the two fighter's personalities. "Kuro's already attacking the village! He's going to take all of the meat!"

Luffy turned immediately and ran up the hill. Zoro stopped for a second, but followed his captain anyway. Usopp ran to the side of the slope, looking down over the cliff at the path as they ran up. Just as they pass him, he lifted a box hidden in the bushes. He tossed the box to the other side, and a rain of caltrops covered the ground behind them.

As Usopp had expected, the hypnotized pirates did not have the wits to stop running, instead sprinting full on into the path of razor spikes.

The pain woke them from their stupor instantly, but the bloodcurdling screams did nothing to stop the pirates behind them, knocking down and trampling the no-longer hypnotized pirates as they made their way to their own painful awakening.

"Yes! Way to go, Cowardsopp!"

' _Thanks, Nami. Thanks so much._ ' Usopp shrugged his shoulders, returning his attention to Jango and the two mystery pirates next to him. He had looked away for too long, Jango's pendulum out in front of them.

"One."

Usopp's slingshot flew off his belt, his hand already steadying his aim. His other hand had a bullet prepared and latched into place, pulling back the sling.

"Two."

Usopp closed his eyes, keeping himself safe from hypnotism, and released the projectile where he knew the pendulum would be.

"Jango."

The bullet smashed through the pendulum, shattering it. Hearing the sound, Usopp opened his eyes and saw Jango sitting on the ground, holding his bleeding forearm. Remnants of the metal talisman were caught in his skin, the rest lying on the ground.

Usopp had hoped he would be in time to prevent the hypnotism. He was not.

The two men at the bottom of the slope had changed. A glassy look in their eyes, and impressive fighting aura that sent chills through Usopp's skin. The initial plan had to change.

Or rather, that's what Usopp would have thought if he had known about these two before the fight had begun. Now he knew very well that Zoro and Luffy were far more powerful than he had imagined, and even with their hypnosis aided strength the last two pirates would not be able to stand up to their combined might.

' _Oh no,_ ' Usopp thought to himself, ' _I forgot to keep tabs on Kuro._ ' Looking back at the ship, Kuro was still there. No movement, no change. The only thing that had changed was the slight tilt of the boat, caused by the shifting in ocean currents. The slight tilt that left Captain Kuro looking slightly further south than the battle.

"Oh no," Usopp said out loud this time, reaching into his pouch for his telescope. Peering out at the ship, his fears were confirmed. "Luffy, Zoro! Take care of these guys! I have to go back into town!"

He began to run, but Nami stopped him. "You aren't going to take our treasure, are you?"

"Now's not the time! Kuro isn't here, that's not him. It's a fake! He must be in town!" Before Nami could respond, Usopp pushed her out of the way and sprinted the full distance to the village.

The physical endurance training he had pushed on himself these past few years were showing despite his lack of nutrition, and he arrived at the village no worse off than when he left that morning. The village did not share the same fate.

Violence did not shake Usopp. Blood did nothing to his composure. But this was something far beyond blood and violence.

Usopp walked slowly through the massacre at first, then quickened his pace with each passing step. He needed to reach Kuro and end this before any more damage could be done. He needed that ship, and though he was loath to admit it, he doubted he could justify taking it if Kaya was dead.

"Kaya!" Usopp called out, when he reached the mansion. The bodyguards were down, probably already dead. He stepped over them and through the gate into the yard. It was nothing like he imagined it would have been. There were still birds in the trees, the flowers were waving at him in the breeze. There was no fire or broken door or any other such evidence of an attack. Just a thin, fading trail of blood with Kuro's footsteps leading up the door.

Usopp ran around the side of the building, to Kaya's window. "Kaya!" he cried out again. He heard nothing, running to the window. She wasn't in her room.

"Usopp…" a voice clearly short of breath called his name. He looked up. Hanging out of the window was Merry, Kaya's other butler, still adorned with those ridiculous ears.

"Merry! Are you-" Usopp had wanted to ask him if he was alright, but he had just taken notice of the blood soaking the front of Merry's shirt.

Merry shook his head. "Don't worry, this isn't mine. I was drugged, this is from Errol, the guard. He died to pass on this message! Klahadore took Kaya, he took her through the town to get her to sign away her estate! That bastard, if only I could do anything… You have to help her!"

Usopp nodded, preparing to set off. "Where did he take her?"

"I don't know," Merry responded, "But there isn't much time, hurry!"

Usopp nodded again, flashing his trademark grin and thumbs-up combo. "Captain Usopp, on the job! Don't you worry about a thing!"

The town was not large, so he sprinted off toward the half opposite the way he came. Now, at least, he knew why Kuro had been killing off the townsfolk.

' _If he's killing off townsfolk and threatening her with more death, she must be holding out. Impressive level of greediness, really, although it's probably just that thick skull of hers trying not to give in,_ ' he thought to himself, ' _Kuro isn't exactly hiding his trail. The first house that doesn't reek of blood is probably where they're at._ '

Following the trail of injury and death, he could barely hear over the howling ocean winds and the screams of agony of those still barely clinging to life around him. It wasn't until he closed in on the edge of town that he heard an older lady's voice, pleading for her life.

"Do you see her, Kaya?" The sickeningly cruel voice spoke, as Usopp approached an open window to assess the situation. "She's pleading. Her life is entirely in your hands. All you need to do is sign this and she'll be free. Look at all the life lost, just because of your pitiful greed."

Kaya, on the other hand, was not responding. There were no recent tears that Usopp could see, although her blouse was soaked with sweat and tears from hours past. She was shell-shocked, he realized, completely out of her mind after seeing all of the life lost in front of her eyes.

' _There's nothing I can do while they're in there_.'

And he was correct. His presence of mind saved him from a suicidal charge. It did not save the woman in the house, who fell to the ground seconds later.

"You continue to be difficult, Kaya. But don't worry, there is more playtime to be found. I really hope you make it to the end. I can't wait to kill Usopp and Merry in front of your eyes."

With Kuro done in that house, Usopp knew what he had to do.

He ran.

Not without purpose, not with cowardice, but with intent. He ran as fast as his legs could take him.

His house contained the remaining page in his playbook: the last option. He grabbed his bag, placed the item in the bag, and marched out of the house with the deliberation of a trained soldier. It was this or nothing. No backing down now.

* * *

Kuro and Kaya didn't exit the house for several more minutes. Usopp assumed that there had been more members of the family hiding in the house, but it was too late to expect to save them. His greatest chance of success had Kuro outside, surprised to see him. Those lives would not go to waste.

"Nothing? You're colder than you look." Kuro had his arm wrapped around Kaya's shoulder, escorting her out of the house. The claws on that hand were delicately running along Kaya's arm, but she didn't even flinch as one cut her.

Usopp didn't need to get Kuro's attention with words. He knew the captain was skilled. He would block the first shot regardless. Kuro also knew that Usopp was not who he pretended to be, thanks to his over-the-top bravado on the cliff.

The first bullet came out of nowhere, but ricocheted off of Kuro's claws as he lifted his hand to protect his face. The second bullet went wide left, missing both targets by several feet.

Kuro sneered, releasing Kaya. He raised both of his claws, easily finding Usopp hiding on the neighbor's roof.

"Well, look who it is," Kuro commented, as a bullet fired from Usopp's slingshot burrowed into the ground next to Kuro. "Captain Usopp, himself."

Usopp slotted another round into his slingshot as Kuro began to approach his position. "Don't move! Or the next one goes right through your forehead!"

Kuro laughed openly, closing the distance between them. "Please. Don't act like you've been missing on purpose. It doesn't suit you."

The next shot went low, on target for Kuro's calf. He deflected it with his claw, a shower of sparks scattering on the ground. "I thought that one was going through my-?"

The explosion at Kuro's feet echoed through the village. The vibrations reached Usopp's earplugs, sputtering to a stop before they could damage his hearing. Kaya was not so lucky, being thrown to the ground and clutching her ears.

Kaya screamed. Usopp would have felt sorry for her, but the sign that she may have broken out of her trance was excellent news and the screams combined with his own adrenaline kept him from being upset. Instead, he was watching the smoke and fire halfway between them.

It should have been sickening, and days later Usopp would throw up recalling the scene, blaming it on seasickness. Kuro was no more – the separated remains of his body confirmed that fact for Usopp.

"Kaya!" he called, jumping off the roof and wobbling a bit when he hit the ground. "Kaya, are you alright?"

She wasn't. She screamed as he approached her, covering her ears and staring at nothing. She screamed as he picked her up and carried her to the mansion. Her lungs and vocal cords had nothing left to give, and still she tried to scream as they entered the foyer. Merry was there, and Usopp handed off the girl to him.

The next few minutes, or perhaps hours, Usopp knelt on the carpet. Time passed around him, but he took no part in it. He had just killed a human, in no particularly clean way, and it weighed upon him. He had not only killed an enemy, but allowed innocents to die due to his inability to handle Kuro without tactics and cunning. It wasn't until the pirates entered the village that Usopp was removed from his stupor.

"He looks terrified," Zoro commented first, as the three of them entered the mansion. Usopp was barely conscious, but he could still hear them walking in. He turned his head slightly toward them, facial expression unmoving.

Luffy looked somber, a sight that Usopp hadn't realized would look so alien on the captain's face.

' _I actually thought of him as a captain just now_ ,' Usopp pondered, his first real thought since Kaya was pried from his arms. ' _I guess he is deserving of such a title_.'

"Usopp, you in there?" He could tell that Nami was as stricken with the damage as Luffy, if not more so, but she made an incredible effort to hide it behind a blank visage. "Hello, Usopp, anyone home?"

Usopp shook himself. "Y-yeah," he said, his voice unexpectedly shaken, "Captain Usopp is never afraid!" The usual lies looked silly with his surroundings.

Luffy chuckled a bit, despite his mood, and Usopp allowed himself to smile a bit. ' _Maybe I can follow this kind of guy, after all_.'

Merry returned downstairs, and ushered them into the sitting room. He looked dreadful, but he was certainly powering through it. "Listen, I have to thank you all for saving Miss Kaya. And saving what's left of the town. That being said, I don't think Kaya is going to be able to thank you directly."

Luffy sat up a bit straighter. "Why not? What's wrong with her?"

"She must be in shock, having seen all of this. Locked up in this mansion, she's probably never even seen any violence," Zoro replied, his arms still crossed on the couch. Usopp could tell that he was upset with the happenings of the day, but he seemed much more composed than Luffy or Nami. "Sometimes people see this stuff and they just disappear. They're still alive, but there's no one inside."

Luffy and Nami looked down, and Usopp looked at Merry. If Kaya wasn't going to regain herself, they had failed. There was no way left for them to take the ship outside of stealing it. Not something he was entirely opposed to, but he doubted he could convince any of these three to help crew the ship if they were stealing it from a girl they had just saved.

People had too much pity. Usopp didn't need any such thing; you take what you can and think nothing for the other people. That was how the open seas worked, and that's why the strong survived. If you could protect yourself without regards for anyone of anything else, you would never have a problem in your life.

Merry escorted them out, and asked that they return the next afternoon to check in on Kaya. They followed Usopp back to his house in silence, and outside of Nami's complaint about the bed being too stiff, they spent the night in silence. The occasional snore of Zoro and stomach grumble of Luffy kept Usopp awake throughout the night, staring at the ceiling. His mind was filled with conflicting thoughts, switching rapidly between conjuring new plans to get off the island and grieving over the lost lives in the village.

* * *

Morning came. The village had barely been touched, the survivors that numbered just over half the village's population still in mourning. No one had the heart to bury the dead, or clean the blood off the paths.

Afternoon came directly after, and the four ended up at the mansion as the clocks were striking two. The men at the gate had been removed, but it hadn't been cleaned very well. Merry opened the door, and they stepped in.

On the couch, smiling at them, was Kaya.

Usopp burst into a grin, not being able to help himself, and Kaya tilted her head at him.

"Kaya! You're back!" He jogged over to her.

She turned her head toward the window, still smiling. As Usopp approached, she got off the couch and walked the other direction, staring out the window. He stopped in his tracks, recognizing the blank look in her eyes. "She's not coming back, is she?"

Merry looked downcast, but Luffy looked confused.

"She's right there, Usopp," he commented, but Zoro put a hand on his shoulder. Luffy looked up at him, and Zoro shook his head slightly.

Usopp fell to his knees. Even with his emotion put away, locked deep inside, he still felt the sadness of losing welling inside of him. ' _If I had only figured it out sooner. I could have been there_.'

Merry came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. When Usopp came to his sense, he was surprised to have to wipe the tears from his eyes. Clearing them, he looked up at Merry, who motioned outside.

All of them followed the butler, out onto the lawn. "You know, Lady Kaya cared for you very much, Usopp."

Usopp frowned slightly, knowing this but not wanting it to be brought up.

"She was preparing something very special for you. I know it won't mean the same thing coming from me, but I think it is the best thing to do in this circumstance. Please, if you'll all follow me."

Together, they all followed Merry down to the shore where Usopp knew Kaya's ship was docked. He wanted to be happy, knew that he was about to be gifted the one thing he always wanted, but it was tough to feel anything positive. His throat was clamped shut, and raw. His eyes were still red, and wet. He rubbed them again, but it only made things worse.

Merry was exchanging words with them. He knew that. He could see Luffy and Nami conversing with the butler. He saw their mouths move. He could even hear their voices. But he could not listen, nor could he tell what they were saying. He had been shaken far more than he expected, and he was feeling it. The pain of losing Kaya, the disgust at having murdered a human being. The regret at his own inability.

He had been given the ship. He saw Merry wipe tears on his sleeve as he pronounced the ship theirs. Everything was a blur as Merry headed back to the mansion, and his new companions escorted him back to his house to pack. Finally, as he was packing away the last of his clothing, he came back to his senses.

"Everyone, I need to go see Kaya, before we leave. I will be back soon, I promise." The pirates gave him looks of understanding, and he sprinted out the door all the way to the mansion.

He opened the door and walked inside, wandering the halls until he found Kaya by herself in the study. Usopp turned and closed the door behind him, approaching the couch and sitting next to her.

"Listen, Kaya," he began, not knowing what it was he wanted to say. The pause was long, and the silence overbearing. "I've lied to you."

She didn't seem interested in his words, but he pressed on. "I'm not talking about the obvious lies, like cooking a steak with a fire demon I bested in an arm-wrestling match, or those rocks I claimed were from the bottom of the ocean. I mean that I lied about who I am.

"I acted like someone I wasn't just to get through. And, honestly, I'm going to keep doing it. I'm not sure how to stop, or if I even want to, but I'm going to keep lying about this. Even telling you about it isn't some sign of compassion; I just know you won't tell anyone else, and it's comforting having a confidante somewhere in the world. So I guess I just want to apologize. Not just to you, but to myself. And I know you can't forgive me, and I know I won't be able to forgive myself, but for all the lies I have told and all the lies I will tell, I apologize. For all the pain I've caused and all the pain I will cause, I apologize. But I'm going to keep living. I'm going to make it to the top of this world and it doesn't matter how many lies I have to tell to get there. So, thanks. Thanks for always listening to my lies with a smile. Merry will take good care of you, even if you'll never know it or appreciate it ever again."

Usopp looked over at Kaya, and despite her unwavering smile and the distant look in her eyes, tears were running down her cheeks. She blinked some away, and moved her hand up to wipe them, confused about their origin. But Usopp just smiled to himself, and wrapped his arms around the girl as she sat there.

Merry walked in. "Kaya, are you alright?" he asked, as he approached the girl. He wiped the tears from her face, and looked over to the open window leading out to the lawn, where the breeze had just woken up to blow the curtains around.

Usopp stopped back at his house, noting that the Straw Hat Pirates had already left for the ship. He shoved away his books deep in his sack, grabbed the few material items that he had, and packed away everything from his life up to that point to take with him. When he exited the ramshackle house, he gave it one last look before marching out to the shore.

This was his old life. The life that was marred by weakness and incapability. The things he was leaving behind. In front of him was the path he had always dreamed of, the path to the top of the world. From the edge of his property all the way until the _Kaya Dreamer_ had sailed out of the island's sight, he never looked back.

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A/N: So, admittedly, I'm not sure how frequently this will be updated. It took me awhile to write all of it, so no guarantees that other chapters will come quickly. That being said, reviews are a huge motivation for me, so if you liked it and you want more, tell me.


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